


Above My Paygrade

by Tah the Trickster (TahTheTrickster)



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Shippy if you Squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27252034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TahTheTrickster/pseuds/Tah%20the%20Trickster
Summary: Lux likes Quinn. She's funny, laid-back, and easy to get along with in an otherwise uptight society.And she's good at keeping secrets, too.
Relationships: Luxanna "Lux" Crownguard/Quinn
Comments: 7
Kudos: 62





	Above My Paygrade

Lux nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice several meters up called out, “Oh, hey Lux.”

She squinted against the bright early-morning sunlight filtering through the slits in the stable’s leaky wooden roof as she peered up, seeking the source. There—grinning and waving a lazy hand down, Ranger-Knight Quinn was propped up comfortably in the hayloft, looking about as relaxed as she ever did.

“ _ Quinn? _ ” Lux nearly laughed. Of course it was Quinn. She hardly knew anyone else in the capital so unconcerned with dignity as to lounge in the stables. “I didn’t know you were in town! What brings you to the capital?” Then, casting a curious look about the stable, ignoring the sleepy horses snorting at her disturbance, added, “How’d you even get up there?”

“Ladder’s in the back behind Old Thomas,” Quinn said, thumbing in that general direction. “Careful, he’s in a temper this morning.”

“Old Thomas is always in a temper,” Lux said, giving the cantankerous old horse’s stall as wide a berth as she could manage in order to climb up.

“Yeah, but he tried to take my fingers off along with his treat when I tried to bribe him to be nice. And I need those.” She twisted around to offer Lux a wry smile as she nearly stumbled over the piles of straw in the loft. “Anyway, I’m allegedly here for an assignment, though I suppose I won’t know what it is until Jarvan gets his ass in gear to actually call me in for it.”

Lux snorted sharply to stifle a laugh. There weren’t many in the Demacian military willing to be so blunt with the crown prince, and the startle of Quinn’s lack of decorum always tickled her a little.

“So what are you doing in the stables, then?” Lux teased, lowering herself onto a patch of exposed flooring, kneeling to keep from getting straw all over her skirts. “Shouldn’t you be waiting on  _ his majesty _ to give you your assignment?”

“Oh, I’m avoiding your aunt,” Quinn said so matter-of-factly that Lux couldn’t help but laugh aloud this time. “She finds busywork for me when I’m in town and don’t have anything better to do. If I wanted to sit around and do paperwork I’d have become a scribe or some shit.”

“She means well,” Lux half-protested, unable to hide the crooked grin she wore. “And she’s not wrong, there  _ is _ pretty much always something that needs to be done...”

“She can find someone else to do it,” Quinn deadpanned—then cracked a grin. “I notice  _ you’re _ not hanging out with her currently, either.”

Lux felt her cheeks warm to a soft shade of pink. “I—listen.”

Quinn winked, and Lux’s blush worsened. “I won’t tell if you won’t.” Then, offering her a covert grin, she asked, “Did you know there’s a barn cat that lives in this stable? Sweet little gray tabby thing. I didn’t know she lived here till last night.”

Lux blinked. “I mean, I’ve seen stray cats hanging out around the stables because of the mice situation, but I didn’t know any  _ lived _ here. How’d you figure this one—?”

“Cats tend to only leave these little guys where they think they’re safe.” Quinn’s little grin broadened, and she slipped a hand between her criss-crossed legs to pull out what Lux felt had to be the  _ tiniest _ kitten she’d ever seen, a little tabby thing with bright blue eyes and white socks, wriggling indignantly in Quinn’s gentle grip with a series of shrill little mews.

“Oh, oh my  _ gosh, _ ” Lux cooed, scooting closer to fawn over the little thing. “Oh, he’s so  _ little, _ can I hold him?”

“Knock yourself out,” Quinn chuckled, gently depositing the kitten into her outstretched hands, “I got more.” She withdrew two more kittens from her lap—a gray one and a calico one, both squirming and mewling to be put back down. “I think they’re like three weeks old? Which is the  _ best _ kitten age, because they think they’re very big and scary now and don’t even know that they’re actually tiny and stupid.” As if on cue, the gray kitten in her hand hissed at her. Quinn laughed softly and gave it a little kiss on the forehead. “Yes, yes, it’s all very intimidating. You weigh less than a pound. Valor could eat you in one gulp.”

Lux reached over to swat her on the knee with her free hand. “Don’t be mean, they’re babies!”

“I’m not being mean, it’s just the truth,” Quinn insisted with a grin, gently placing them back in her lap to keep them from fussing. “I think that little guy likes you.”

True enough, the little tabby kitten seemed to have settled comfortably into Lux’s hand, tiny claws latched into the fabric of her gloves as it peered sleepily around the loft. She hesitated a moment, and clumsily removed the glove from her free hand to pet the little thing, running her thumb gently over its head and scratching her index finger under its chin. The kitten leaned into the attention, a quiet, stuttering purr vibrating in its chest.

Lux smiled softly down at the kitten. Truthfully, it’d been a stressful series of weeks of late, with the capital still in unrest from Sylas’ escape and the subsequent mageseeker inquisitions. It was almost dreamlike, that she was fortunate enough to have one of her few friends make an appearance so unexpectedly. And with kittens, no less. One could hardly stay stressed with a purring kitten in hand.

She almost forgot that relaxing wasn’t a luxury she could afford: the contented dazzle of light that danced over her ungloved fingertips was small, but unmistakably... unnatural. She froze.

Quinn went equally still, a wheat stalk halfway to her mouth, golden eyes wide and brows lifted nearly to her hairline.

Lux didn’t know what to say. She tried to start a sentence twice, and each time came up empty-handed. Fear held her tongue back. What would Quinn think of her now? A liar? A traitor? Would she inform the King? The mageseekers? Would she—

“I didn’t see that,” Quinn said finally, evenly, settling the wheat between her teeth as she leaned back on the pile of hay behind her.

“...What?” Lux hated how badly her voice warbled.

“Whatever that was, I didn’t see nothing,” Quinn said, shrugging as she made herself comfortable, letting those bright golden eyes fall shut.

“But...” Lux licked her lips nervously, almost unwilling to believe her air of nonchalance. “The mageseekers...?”

Quinn cracked open one eye, a sliver of a smile touching her lips. “Do I look like I wanna deal with those uptight bastards? If I never had to talk to a mageseeker again, it’d be too soon.”

Lux blinked rapidly, trying to keep herself from welling up. “It’s... it’s a criminal offense to shelter mages without reporting them,” she said shakily. “It’s punishable by exile at the minimum, there... people have been executed for it if it’s deemed too severe,  _ Quinn— _ ”

“Morg’s chains, Lux, you’re my  _ friend, _ I’m not ratting you out,” Quinn huffed, looking a touch indignant that she’d even consider it. “I’ve seen the kinds of people Jarvan has in the mageseekers, you don’t deserve that kind of treatment. It’s bullshit.”

“I don’t deserve...?” Lux hesitated for a moment and looked away. “But others... like me do?”

Quinn picked up a handful of straw and threw it at her. “I didn’t say that either, don’t be a brat. Look, it’s... all really complicated,” she said with a sigh, chewing thoughtfully on her wheat stalk. “Like, yeah, magic’s dangerous, but like... I dunno, people didn’t  _ ask _ for it, most of them don’t even wanna use it, and even then is it even actually dangerous all the time? All you did was put on a lightshow for a kitten. That’s like the most non-threatening thing I’ve ever seen.”

Lux tactfully chose not to inform her of her more hands-on magic practice sessions with Sylas.

“Plus on a more selfish note, your brother would absolutely rip me a new asshole if anything happened to you,” she quipped, stretching one leg out to playfully nudge Lux’s knee with her boot. “And, gods, Tianna would make my working life a living hell. She’d kick me to the frontlines on latrine duty for months. I have more self-preservation than that.”

Lux couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the comment, true as it might’ve been. “I don’t think she’d stick you on the frontlines, you might enjoy that too much,” she teased. “She’d put you on desk duty for the rest of your military career instead.”

The look of exaggerated horror on Quinn’s face drew a more genuine laugh out of her.

“Don’t give her any ideas, shit,” Quinn groaned, smiling nonetheless. “Your aunt’s already got it out for me. You call somebody a dumb motherfucker in front of the King  _ one _ time...”

The kitten in Lux’s hands was starting to squirm again, so Lux inched over to sit next to Quinn and deposit the little thing with its siblings. She let herself list slightly to the left, resting against Quinn’s warm shoulder as she watched the kitten curl up in a pile to nap. “Hey, Quinn?”

Quinn glanced aside at her, moving her stalk to the other corner of her mouth to keep it out of Lux’s face. “Uh?”

Lux took Quinn’s hand in hers, feeling the scars and calluses on her fingers and palm from a life harder lived than her own, and squeezed gently, willing a tiny, warm glitter of light to dance between their entwined fingers. Quinn watched, fascinated, enraptured, a curious dusting of pink coloring her freckled cheeks at the display.

“Thanks,” Lux said finally, softly.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Quinn mumbled, scratching at her cheek with her free hand. “Don’t mention it.” Then, after a moment, she shot Lux a wry smile. “Seriously, don’t.”

Lux laughed and made herself comfortable against Quinn’s bicep to watch the little pile of kittens doze in her lap. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”


End file.
